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WHL Moose Jaw Warriors

Warriors Secure One-Goal Win in Calgary on Wednesday

February 17, 2022 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors News Release


For the second time in five days, Jackson Unger stonewalled his hometown team.

The 16-year-old goalie made 38 saves on Wednesday night in a 3-2 win for the Moose Jaw Warriors over the Calgary Hitmen at Seven Chiefs Sportsplex.

"He's calm and collected back there and he's got a lot of poise," Warriors assistant coach Gord Burnett said after the game.

Unger won his fourth straight start for the Warriors, which included making 17 saves in the third period as Moose Jaw held onto the one-goal win.

"As a 16-year-old, he gets some good tutelage from his 20-year-old partner, but he's so calm that it helps the d core in front of him, they don't seem to panic in front of him," Burnett said.

The win helped improve the Warriors' record to 28-17-3-2 this season and moved them into a tie with the Red Deer Rebels for third place in the Eastern Conference with 61 points. The Rebels have three games in hand.

Jagger Firkus opened the scoring 6:37 into the first period with his team-leading 28th goal of the season, finishing off a great feed from Ryder Korczak.

Calgary would respond before the period was out as Carter Yakemchuk tied the game with just under seven minutes left in the opening frame.

The two teams went back-and-forth in the second period, but the Warriors finally broke through for a go-ahead goal with 1:37 left in the frame. Daemon Hunt tipped in another nice pass from Korczak for his 14th goal of the season, which is the most by a defenceman in the Western Hockey League.

With 4:14 gone in the third period, Max Wanner added some insurance for the Warriors with his fifth of the season finding its way through traffic from the point.

Calgary pulled its goalie late in the game and Sean Tschigerl was able to cut the lead to one, but Unger and the Warriors held the rest of the way.

Wanner's goal was his ninth point in the last 11 games as he's almost double his season point total over that span, now with five goals and 21 points in 50 games.

Burnett said Wanner and Lucas Brenton played some big minutes for the Warriors in the win.

"They're both really long and when they use their size and their length, they're real hard to play against," he said.

It was a hard hitting contest, which Burnett said shows teams are starting to tightening up as the playoffs approach.

"They've all been tight recently," he said. "Everyone's checking a little tighter and playing a little harder and games have been a lot closer."

The Warriors were outshot 40-30 by the Hitmen. Moose Jaw finished 1-for-4 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill on the night.

After wrapping up their midweek trip to Alberta, the Warriors will return home and prepare to head to Prince Albert to take on the Raiders on Saturday.

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Western Hockey League Stories from February 17, 2022


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